CSS is Now Operating the Nightingale Safe Spot

By Amanda Lang • July 23, 2025



In partnership with the Nightingale Board of Directors and the City of Eugene, CSS is ensuring the Nightingale Safe Spot continues to operate in South Eugene. In the month of July, CSS officially began to operate the Nightingale Safe Spot Community in South Eugene. As the organization moves its home to our new building and closes its staff shelter sites, we are ensuring CSS’s legacy of investing in our workforce and sheltering staff is continued at the beloved Nightingale Safe Spot. We are dedicated to sustaining shelter beds and maintaining a positive presence for our unhoused neighbors in South Eugene.

“It’s an incredibly exciting time to be part of this organization,” says Blake, CSS Director of Community Impact, "and we are honored to have been selected by Nightingale’s Board of Directors to carry on the organization’s investment into our community.”

In January, Nightingale Hosted Shelters opened an application seeking a local organization to take over their shelter operations. Multiple organizations applied to operate the rest stop. In April, Nightingale publicly announced their selection: Community Supported Shelters. Norma Grier, chair of Nightingale’s Futures Committee, said, “They are committed to continuing Nightingale's history of being a good neighbor. I believe supporting them is essential to our community's well-being.”

She added, “Our organization operated one site with 20 Huts. We were small. While we had many successes, we struggled to provide the array of expected services that help people transition from living on the streets to stable housing, like case management, housing navigation, and employment coaching.” She believes CSS, which is larger and has more experience, offers the ability to sustainably meet the needs of people who are unhoused. CSS is dedicated to maintaining the sense of community and belonging at the core of both of the organizations’ missions.

Nightingale Hosted Shelters and CSS, the only city-supported rest stop managers in Eugene, have been partners for a long time. Blake shared that “our founders supported construction of the Conestoga Huts at CSS’s main office. CSS delivered their water before they had running water. CSS helped their board with shelter data quality. The organizations have had a long-standing relationship to support one another.”

He says that as CSS staff visit the Nightingale Safe Spot and get to know Nightingale clients who still live there, it feels like a very natural transition. “When Nightingale had to close down due to construction earlier this year, we wanted to ensure no one was left out and everyone had shelter available. Their community members got full access to our housing navigation services and had the option to retain shelter with CSS while their shelter was under construction. We helped one person move to housing on the East Coast, we helped another person identify a housing opportunity in town, and one person already got involved in our Workforce Development program. Everyone was so kind, and we welcomed them to our community.” During that time of transition, multiple organizations and staff at the City of Eugene offered support to ensure the rest spot stayed safe and ensured everyone had options. It was a community effort to make sure it stayed open.

Located on Hilyard Street and 34th Avenue, Nightingale Hosted Shelter has been providing shelter in South Eugene since 2017, when the Southeast Neighbors Association voted to support a city-sanctioned rest stop. A year later, they expanded the number of Huts from 12 to 20. People living in the neighborhood provide a sense of belongingness and a source of support by donating bottles and cans for the BottleDrop program. This program was run by a small but mighty force of volunteers, and the site has endured as a demonstration of what strong community spirit is capable of. “I love that Nightingale is so much a part of my neighborhood,” says Norma. “During what are chaotic times nationally, it is rewarding to focus on a local effort that truly makes a difference in the lives of people in my community. We are working to make Eugene a better place to live.”

Early in the year, Nightingale completed a collaborative project with EWEB and the City of Eugene, bringing running water, electricity, and sewer connections to the site. Before, clients had relied on weekly water deliveries, solar power, and portable toilets, so this project created significant quality-of-life improvements. After the massive infrastructure project, though, Nightingale’s tiny team of volunteers was exhausted. “The required effort was challenging to sustain,” says Norma. “The services we hoped to deliver have gotten more complex than we could provide,” but no matter what, the board did not want the shelter beds to go away.

That’s where Community Supported Shelters stepped up.

“When you see a group of people trying to do a good thing for our community, but they’re at wits' end, you don’t want to see that spirit go,” said Blake. “Our job is making sure that hundreds of people have a home in our community, and Nightingale’s Futures Committee gave us an opportunity to continue to do that. We get to make sure that Nightingale’s years of effort continue on.” In July 2025, the revamped Safe Spot Community is coming together with 8 community members calling Nightingale their new home. We can already see the positive impact on everyone living there, and we are excited to keep investing in the neighborhood, in the site, and in our newest community members living there.

Community members spent a Sunday afternoon organizing the community inventory and shop area to prepare for inspections and the BottleDrop program to resume. Here's the before and after:

We plan to make Nightingale a community for some CSS employees who shelter with our organization, and with support from Nightingale’s Futures Committee, we hope to foster relationships with local educational institutions that intend to support unhoused college students' shelter during their education. Over the next couple of months, our community will be collaborating on projects to:

• Beautify the property and set up the community garden.
• Set up the new common room.
• Put finishing touches on the kitchen.
• Organize the inventory and shop area.
• Set up the donation station and processing station for BottleDrop donations. 
• Meet our wonderful neighbors and volunteers in South Eugene!
  

Nightingale is an incredible labor of community and kindness. We’re honored to carry on this important work in the South Eugene neighborhood. If you are interested in getting involved or making donations, please reach out to community@cssoregon.org.

Here from Nightingale Hosted Shelters? Here's how you can get engaged with CSS!